Note: This was written before the recent fire; Recovery updates will continue as available

TRY & TRY AGAIN!
Gospel Reading: Mark 8:22-26

A second time Jesus laid hands on his eyes, and he saw perfectly. v.25

Even Jesus had to try more than once in healing the blind man at Bethsaida! In a sense you could say that Jesus' own example gives credence to the old saying. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." No doubt there are many areas in our own Christian life where this is necessary.

Christian Life Is a Process

Perfection doesn't happen overnight; total perfection doesn't happen at all. However, a substantial mastery over life's various problem areas is possible with daily work and patience. Jesus instructed us to take up our cross daily. Paul spoke of the struggle between his flesh and his spirit, and told us that he often did the things his spirit didn't want to do. John wrote of a continual process of confession, repentance, and forgiveness. We can't broad jump into victory and healing, we usually take one step at a time.

Repetition, Patience & Perseverance

Just as our personal Christian life is a process, ministry to others is also a process. We must be ministered to repeatedly through many steps; likewise, we must minister to others through many repeated steps. This is the essence of today's Gospel. Jesus healed the blind man of Bethsaida through steps. It didn't happen all at once. In a sense, this also happens with ministry in general. Jesus said that if they don't receive you in one town, shake the dust from your sandals and move on to the next. This involves repetition, patience and perseverance.

Are we willing to "try and try again" in our Christian life? Remember that losing a battle does not mean you have lost the war. Today's Gospel reading teaches us that even Jesus used a process to heal the blind man at Bethsaida. His healing wasn't instantaneous. We should not be discouraged if sometimes we must do the same.

John Michael Talbot

ROAD REPORT FROM CANADA
& FIRE RECOVERY UPDATE

Peace and Good in Christ!

We are about one-third of the way through our Montana/Canada tour. After the monastery fire it was difficult, to say the least, to still go out on this tour. But the community said that we should go, so here we are.

SURROUNDED BY GOOD WILL

We have been warmly and compassionately received everywhere. Concert audiences have been overwhelming with free-will offerings for the rebuilding fund. Emotionally and spiritually, we have simply been surrounded by good will and love at every stop. It is overwhelming for me, and I am most grateful for the brothers and sisters everywhere who make us feel so loved and supported. God is good!

Since I have not toured in these areas before, the audiences have been similar to my early days of ministry in more established JMT areas. This has been true for Great Falls, MT and Alberta, Canada so far. Staying with the Poor Clares in their new monastery and guest house in Great Falls was a great way to start this concert tour. Red Deer was full. We had a sell-out in Sherwood Park.

A special surprise was playing for the annual priest retreat for the priests of Calgary at Sanctum Retreat Center, founded by our friends, Kristoph and Mariette Dobrowolski. The natural beauty of the sacred place, coupled with the holiness of the priests and staff. made this a special stop. We have been received by full and sold-out churches. Though a real minister does just as well for 12 as for 1200 or 12,000, I must admit that it has been a needed boost after the devastation of the monastery fire.

BASICS ARE BACK UP & RUNNING

At home at Little Portion, the community has simply been amazing in their response to the fire. They are tired and exhausted, but the love people everywhere have expressed has blessed them enough to keep going. The basics are back up and running, at least for the interim. We are already looking at monastic, yet modern and "green" designs. The rebuilding will begin as soon as possible, but not in a rushed fashion. That's it for now. Please keep us in your prayers. That is the greatest gift you can give.

In Jesus,

John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Update from JMTM Operations Manager
May 8, 2008

I've just returned from a few days at Little Portion to help with the work of setting up the office space in the temporary Common Center, which is now located in a vacant family hermitage. The computers are in place, a telephone system was installed, and a temporary internet connection is now working. Boxes of CDs have arrived to replace lost inventory.


Photos of the damage are wholly inadequate to convey the scope of the disaster. Even now, more than a week after the blaze, there is a sharp odor and tingling sensation in the nose when approaching the burn site. Many in the community still have bronchial irritation. Due to the ongoing investigation by fire department officials, we are still not allowed into the rubble to check the contents of our fireproof filing cabinets and safe. I was told that it is not likely that anything is left even there.

The community members are amazingly resilient and are busy getting back to business, while continuing their daily monastic routine of work and prayer. Daily prayers and Mass are held in the Portiuncula Chapel which was constructed of stone a few years ago, and the noon meal is served in the temporary Common Center. The farm, gardens, and animals were not affected by the blaze, and farm operations have continued. Monday morning, as usual, a truckload of frozen chickens was delivered to buyers a few hours away.

John Michael and the ministry team are in Canada, at the beginning of a nearly month-long tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The community felt that the tour should go on as scheduled, that it is important for all of the ministries of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity to continue in full swing.

Donations continue to come in from all directions. Our dear friends at Oregon Catholic Press notified me yesterday of a substantial donation that is on the way from their offices. Friends and fans from all over the world have logged on to John's website and donated generously. Members of the news media have been kind to help spread the word of our tragedy and our need, and I have received hundreds of e-mails with promises of prayers.

We treasure our supporters, donors, friends, and fans who have come forward to help. Please know that the community prays for you daily.

Jim Cosgrove
Operations Manager
John Michael Talbot Ministries

FIRE UPDATE
FOR FRIENDS & CUSTOMERS

Due to the fire at Little Portion Hermitage on April 29, our stock room, shipping facilities, and inventory of JMT books and recordings have been destroyed.

We are in the process of setting up temporary office space and will also be shipping orders from another location as soon as possible, perhaps within a few days.

Thank you for your patience, prayers and donations. Should you desire to place an order in the midst of these circumstances, or make a donation, click here.

The comments posted by you are encouraging to us.
We appreciate each one more than we can say.
Likewise, your prayers are important to us;
we are grateful for them.

Please continue to pray for physical stamina, strength,
and recovery from smoke inhalation for
community members.

Updates on the recovery efforts at the Monastery
will continue to be posted as progress is made.

THANK YOU

Many thanks for the overwhelming response to the tragedy of the monastery fire at midnight Monday AM. We are all exhausted, but have gotten the basics of integrated monastic life up and running again.

We could not do it without your prayers and donations. We take none of them for granted, but are humbled to mutual prayer with every gift. Thank you.

John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Note: this article was written before the recent fire.

UNITY CREATES CREDIBLE WITNESSES
Gospel Reading: John 17:20-26

That all may be one ... that the world may believe that you sent me. John 17:21

Christians are not united, and the world does not believe. This fact is a sad indictment upon our witness, but unfortunately is true. Unity is not some kind of ecumenical beast out to gobble up orthodoxy; nor is it an exercise in building one’s own church persuasion into an all-controlling empire. Instead, it is a matter of obedience to the Word of Jesus Christ. It is also a matter of credibility before a watching world.

UNITY COMES THROUGH THE SPIRIT & TRUTH

Jesus give unity through the Spirit and through truth. Jesus himself is the way, the truth, and the life. He chose and commissioned his apostles to preach his truth to the world. They, in turn, established successors to their ministry so that an apostolic succession spread through the world. When there was a question about truth, the early church appealed to this succession. From this process came the Scriptures themselves. Thus, the authority of the Scriptures builds on the authority of the church established by God. If you deny the authority of the early church, you end up destroying the authority of the Scriptures.

There is much greater unity than that of church structure and doctrine found in the doctrine of Spirit. It is possible to be united structurally and doctrinally with a Catholic, and yet be disconnected in the Spirit. Likewise, I can be discon­nected in structure and doctrine with a Protestant, but be united in Spirit. If I choose between the two, I definitely choose the latter as the greater and most gratifying unity, though I admit that neither unity is really complete.

God wants our unity to be like the "body of Christ" with a body, a soul, and a spirit. The body is structure; the soul or mind is doctrine; and the spirit is the Holy Spirit.

UNITY IS A MATTER OF CREDIBILITY

Let us pray that the various levels of unity now enjoyed between professing Christians will grow to com­pleteness. Let us begin within our own church and work outward. Let us begin person-to-person and then proceed church-to-church. Let us do this not to build our own church, but to give credible witness of Christ to the world.

John Michael Talbot

MONASTERY FIRE UPDATE

WORK OF RECOVERY HAS BEGUN

The work of recovery has begun. John Michael and the General Council have met with the insurance company and fire investigators, and the awesome task has begun to identify everything that was lost. The fire department has not yet pinpointed an exact cause of the fire, but it was ruled accidental. Troubadour offices are being set up in a vacant hermitage, and computers, internet service, and networking equipment will be installed by Monday May 5th. One telephone line has been restored, and others will be operating by Monday also.

The archives, containing 30+ years of photos, videos, books and papers, which documented the birth and history of the community was a complete loss. Thankfully, there are many members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity Domestic who have offered their own photos and documents from those times to help rebuild the recorded history of the community.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Many have asked what the needs of the community are at this time. Most of all, prayers are needed for the members of the community as they start the clean-up, recovery, and rebuilding process. They are all experiencing bronchial difficulties due to smoke inhalation and fatigue and even exhaustion in these early days. Please pray for strength of spirit and body for them.

There is an immediate need for donations, even though the insurance will help with the recovery. The immediate tasks of setting up makeshift office space and shipping areas, kitchen supplies, office furniture and equipment are all expenses that are being incurred now. As we look ahead to the rebuilding of the Common Center and Charity Chapel, there will be additional funds needed to construct the new buildings from stone and in a manner that is eco-friendly and energy efficient.

Click here to make donations to the Recovery Fund. (For amounts greater than $1,000 by credit card, please call 870-559-3062.)

Visit the John Michael Talbot website by clicking here.

MOST IMPORTANT

Above all, please pray for John Michael and the community as they work to rise from the ashes of this disaster. Additional prayers are also requested as John, Viola, and John Cotton leave on Saturday for a tour of Western Canada.

Jim Cosgrove
Operations Manager
John Michael Talbot Ministries

MONASTERY FIRE & AFTERMATH

FIRE AT LITTLE PORTION MONASTERY

Peace and Good in Christ!

Last night the sleep of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, Monastic, was interrupted close to midnight as a raging fire burned our Chapel and Common Center to the ground.

Viola and I were the first on the scene as I saw the orange/red glow through our hermitage's back windows. Upon arriving we found there were no hoses capable of stopping the raging flames. I ran up the hill and woke up the community, and we started the almost futile task of spraying down the part of the Common Center that had not yet burned and retrieving anything from inside we could still find.

Although I have seen some house fires, I have never seen anything this big. The flames reached high into the sky. The smoke was very dense, as was the heat. Despite this, our people ventured into the smoky building to retrieve whatever they could reach. Some of us suffered from smoke inhalation. I spent a lot of time trying to get people out of the building before it exploded into flames. We finally surrendered to the inevitability that our Chapel and Common building were going to burn to the ground before the fire company could get to us.

After 30 to 40 minutes the firemen and women began to arrive, followed soon after by the fire trucks and water trucks. Four fire companies responded and did heroic and valiant work at saving the other buildings from being consumed. We are most grateful for our volunteer fire departments!

We lost some most valuable things in the fire. Our community archives were lost and all of the books in our library. The Troubadour stockroom and inventory were lost to the flames. All of the various awards received were melted in the intense heat of the fire. We have some back-ups from computers, but nothing current. It is our hope that most of this is covered by our insurance.

God gave members various words or locutions. I shared that God is stripping us back to what is really essential to our way of life and that we will rebuild with greater efficiency, but in stone. Someone got the image of Gideon, who was repeatedly told by the Lord that he needed fewer men, but men well-prepared for battle. Another said that she got a word that God is with us through this trial. These served to inspire us and to keep our spirits hopeful and filled with faith, hope, and love. I believe we may have lost some buildings, but He will make us stronger for going through this together.

For the immediate future we will pray at our Portiuncula Chapel, which was untouched by the fire (as was most of our Prayer Garden). We will use some vacant hermitages for common meals and community meetings. Another will serve as a temporary office. Many have offered their homes and guest houses to us, but we will get by and keep the praying heart of the Hermitage alive in the months ahead.

Eventually we will have to rebuild. We will rebuild with stone and earth in a way that is environmentally "green." At that point we may ask for donations from our benevolent benefactress. We are humbled and grateful beyond mere words for the outpouring of offers to help with food, housing and other things.

In Jesus,

John Michael Talbot

Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage